Day 12, March 18 - 4000 To Go

The boat was relatively comfortable during the night, even though we were making up to 7 kts at times. I pressure cooked (for 45 min) the pot of bean stew then had dinner, all while watching the classic "An Officer and a Gentleman". I particularly enjoyed the movie because in the 20 years since I had seen it I had become very familiar with the Port Townsend area and I could see many places where I had walked not just at Fort Worden where the bulk of the movie was shot, but also various beach and street scenes. I had even been inside the lighthouse in one of the scenes, the one at Point No Point, I think.

At 9 PM I set the timer for 3 hours because I was expecting the cold front to pass us at about midnight, and there would be an associated wind shift from NW to W. I need not have bothered because when the wind shift came while I was sleeping the boat swung from ESE to NE and I could feel the change as the it met the oncoming waves more directly. I suited up, went topside and gybed the boat with very little drama from the mainsail. That done it was a matter of setting the sails and the Monitor to put us on a very broad reach such that the staysail was being blanketed by the mainsail. We were now heading SE but I expected from the forecast for the wind to continue backing from W to SW, which would take our course more to E. The wind speed was spot on the 20 kts forecast, and we were making about 5 kts. And wow, was did the boat feel quiet in the cabin, now that we were running almost directly with the waves. There was only the hum of the Rutland, the gentle roll of the boat, and the sound of water as it streamed past the hull. Thirty minutes later it started raining again (it had been raining off and on since 8 PM), the wind picked and soon we were heading almost due south at 7 kts. It had to be a squall. I tried to wait it out but the course and speed persisted, so I suited up again and went topside to have a look. The boat was on a beam reach and the Monitor could was not able to steer the boat downwind as it was supposed to. I set the boat back on course then re engaged Jeff and spent the next hour conning the boat at the navigation station over a cup of hot chocolate. I then returned to bed but soon I was up to deal with what I thought was a gybe but turned out to be the boom slamming a couple of times. I stayed up watching things until after daylight at 3.30 AM and at 4 AM returned to bed until the alarm woke me at 6 AM for the SAMMNet session.

I woke up at 6 AM to find the boat still moving satisfactorily to the east. I then noticed the cold and noted that the cabin temperature was 13.9C and topside it was cooler by several degrees. It was just as well that I was sailing solo because a bath would be out of the question until there was a sunny and calm day, even if it meant waiting until my final approach to Australia. (Though come to think about it, a reeking body would be a great way to discourage a prolonged customs inspection.) I would rely on a change of underclothes every week or so, and probably wear the "Icebreaker" fine wool body stocking over that. I would break out a third blanket this night.

I think that I have spoken for the last time with Sam, who deals with coastal weather at ZS1SAM. I've started getting a good strong signal from Graham at ZS2ABK at the early session, and the late morning session has been good for several days. So it looks like I am now far enough away from Graham's station at Simonstown to get good reception on his 20 meter band. Graham beams first to the Indian Ocean where currently he has no boats approaching, then he directs his antenna to the Atlantic Ocean where there is a group of 6 boats headed for St Helena. Finally he directs his antenna to the Southern ocean where he has two boats headed for Australia: Jean Socrates' Nereida and Pachuca. Graham speaks with Jeanne every day, even though she is less than 1000 miles from Cape Leeuwin Australia. I know that because I can hear his half of the conversation and bits of Jeanne's.

The sun began to shine at mid morning after more than a day of cloudy weather, and that lifted my spirits as usual. The wind charger had seen me through during this period and the battery bank was still at 12.7V, down slightly from the 12.8V after the engine run 36 hours previously.

Since leaving Cape Town I have been running the refrigerator almost constantly, keeping the temperature just above freezing. This has kept the perishables in amazing good condition. Only yesterday did I have the last of the Food Lover's salads that in enjoyed so much in Cape Town. In the refrigerator there are still apples, bananas (brown skins but edible), a grapefruit, tomatoes, a few carrots, 3 eggs, plenty of yogurt, 3 loaves of bread, frozen chicken for the next pressure cooker meal, and other items. In the ice box is a mango that won't ripen, a sweet potato, and plenty of ordinary potatoes, onions and garlic. There is 4th loaf of bread in the oven, which is good because I enjoy my daily two slices of buttered toast after morning coffee. And I have barely touched the various packets of dried fruit that I purchased from that nice lady in VandA. I won't go into the dry and canned items in the holds other than to say that I've got enough rice, spaghetti, beans, lentils, almonds, and canned fish to support me past Australia to New Zealand and probably beyond.

I don't know if it is a coincidence but my chronic chest congestion that has persisted since that illness in Cape Town began to clear up as soon as I had my last drink of alcohol 5 days ago. It is likely that I will arrive with 2 cases of Heineken intact, but I doubt that the bottle of rum and bottle of brandy will survive the passage.

After a third failed attempt to contact Jeanne aboard her boat Nereida I composed a Sailmail message telling her that I was giving up and wishing her well for the rest of her solo non-stop circumnavigation. At the second SAMMNet session a few minutes later Jeanne gave her position as 44S, 097E.

At noon our position was 43S21, 32E21, giving us a n-n distance of 142 miles to E. (That's more like it!) Both navigation programs, Marine Plotter and OpenCPN, reported that we were now less than 4,000 nautical miles from Fremantle. I had a good shot at making Fremantle before the end of April. I would have to average 100 miles per day which should be achievable in these latitudes, particularly in view of the pilot chart's indication that I could expect a 0.7 kt current all of the way to where I would begin my turn northwards for Fremantle, and even then part of the current would turn northwards with me to go up the west coast of Australia. That translates to more than 15 miles a day gratis.

I woke from a nap at 2 PM and was happy to see that the boat was still tracking to the east at more that 5.5 kts even though the wind had fallen to 13 kts. The wind was expected to weaken into the night and my big question was how long I would be able to keep the mainsail up in this lumpy sea. Anyway, so far so good. I then suited up and inspected the deck under a clear and sunny sky. I freed the staysail lazy sheet from around a bollard and noted that the leeward intermediate shroud was a little too much slack to my liking. My record showed that I had tightened the turnbuckles on each side a total of 3 turns since the rigging was installed in Argentina. I had last given them each 1.5 turns in January and would give them another turn or two at first opportunity. The lower cap and lower shrouds were nice and snug. In the cockpit all was well. The Monitor control lines were not too loose and the recently repaired airvane was firmly in its clamps with both bolts nice and tight. This was good considering that the Monitor had been hard at work for more than 24 hours since its last control line adjustment.

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